


so many frights I've known (it's hard to let them go)

by heartbreakordeath



Category: Bastille (Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash, idk i wanted to write something for charlie's birthday so here we are, if you squint bc i'm blind and also can't write for shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:00:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24480928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartbreakordeath/pseuds/heartbreakordeath
Summary: title not-so-creatively stolen from the joywave song "F.E.A.R."based onthat one part of the nasa zoomwhere charlie admitted that he's held his friends' hands on roller coasters before...and then i rememberedthesephotosand....yeah.
Relationships: Charlie Barnes/Dan Smith
Comments: 10
Kudos: 17





	so many frights I've known (it's hard to let them go)

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this a lil bit at a time over the span of 5 hours so i am sorry if it sucks but enjoy??

“I should warn you, I’m not really a huge fan of- oh, **_shit_ ** .“ _He’s not very good at warnings, is he?_ Dan thinks wryly, as Charlie’s hand shoots out from beneath the bars and clamps down on Dan’s thigh. 

“Afraid of a little roller coaster? Wouldn’t have seen that coming,” he quips, but one look at his friend’s rapidly paling face, and he knows this is going to be an _interesting_ couple of minutes. 

“Why did you come on it, then?” He asks, voice rising as the ride jerks forwards. 

“It didn’t look that bad from down there!” Charlie sputters, fingers probably leaving bruises on Dan’s leg by now. “And in case you haven’t noticed, you’re _very_ convincing! Not my fault you’re not fucking afraid of anything!”

“Not true! I’m afraid of lots of things.” Even Dan’s breath hitches as the seats shift and they begin the ascent towards the late afternoon sky. 

“Oh yeah?” Charlie shoots back, trying and failing to mask the hysteria in his voice as he yells over the noise. “Like what?”

“Uh…” His eyes unwittingly flit to the hand on his leg. _Nope. Ignoring that one._ “I don’t know! Spiders?”

“Everyone’s afraid of spiders, Dan, they’re fucking _spiders_ \- but at least _they_ can’t _kill you_!”

“ _Anything_ can kill you!” They’re both screaming over the wind at this point, trying to ignore how quickly the peak of the track is approaching. “Elevators, murderers...rabid squirrels!”

“Not helping, Dan! Squirrels are vicious creatures! _Fuck_ ,” Charlie’s eyes widen, and for one horrifying moment Dan thinks he’s about to lose his dinner all over the both of them. “I can’t do this!”

“Yes, you can! It’s too late now, anyways!” Dan scrambles for words. What would he say if he was afraid right now? What would his friends tell him?

Probably, he thinks ironically, exactly what they’ve been telling him for years about a certain attractive guitarist. 

“You’ve gotta face it!” He yells, heart pounding in his ears. “If you never face it, you’ll never know if you’re still scared of it.”

“How would you know?” Charlie’s staring right at Dan instead of the track (or, god forbid, the ground below them) now, which Dan counts as a success. 

“I have a band, don’t I? I’m still fucking terrified of it, but I still do it because it’s what I love. Sometimes the things you love most are the scariest to face.”

Charlie frowns, looking more confused than scared now. “Dan, what-”

“Here, just- _fuck it_!” Dan takes a shuddering breath, covers his friend’s hand with his own just as their car tips over the edge. “Hold on!”

Charlie evidently gets the wrong message, because at some point before they both stop screaming and the ride’s coasting along a flatter part of the track, the man has Dan’s hand in a death grip. Not that Dan has the capacity for _any_ thoughts at the moment, let alone the space to complain about it. 

And he can’t bring himself to regret any of it, because Charlie’s laughing now, letting out a whoop as they go over another bump in the track. 

“Told you!” Dan yells with a grin, but his friend just laughs harder and throws his head back against the seat, and Dan can breathe again.

They’re both shaking with adrenaline as the rollercoaster screeches to a halt at the end of the ride, holding onto each other for balance as they heave themselves out of the uncomfortable seats. 

“See?” Dan starts, when they’re back on the platform. “That wasn’t that ba-”

“ _Never. Again_.” Charlie sticks a finger in the taller man’s face. “You hear me? Never. I hate you for this. You’ll never be forgiven.”

Dan smirks. “Wanna get back in line?”

“Of fucking _course_.”

(This time, Charlie doesn’t hesitate to grab Dan’s hand, and Dan thinks that maybe, they’ve _both_ conquered a little bit of fear today.)

**Author's Note:**

> we're gonna just ignore the fact this is my 69th work on this damn site 'kay


End file.
